A Sky Full of Balloons and Then Heading for Home

Hello again. Our last chapter concluded on Tuesday, October 8^th when we arrived at an RV park near Socorro, New Mexico. On Wednesday we were up and out of bed about 6:00 a.m. so we could get on the road early. We are going into the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta today as part of a rally put on by the Monaco International Chapter of FMCA. Monaco International has done this rally every year for about 20 years. They are always in one of the VIP parking areas directly adjacent to the fifteen acre park where the balloons are launched, so the access and views are outstanding. We have been to the Fiesta with Monaco three times before, with the most recent being in 2015. Our plan was to leave about 8:30, trying to time our arrival at the Fiesta grounds so we got there at 10:30, the earliest time you are supposed to show up to get parked. This is because the Fiesta actually has two sessions over nine days, the first starts on Saturday and ends on Wednesday, the second starts on Wednesday and ends on Sunday. We are in the second session, so Wednesday is the “switch” day when the people where were in the parking lot for the first session leave and those for the second session, us, go in and get set up. The balloons do a final morning fly on Wednesday, but there are no other activities on that day.

On two of our previous times at the rally Jackie and I were part of the team that put the rally on. I helped with parking and Jackie helped with cooking for the social events. When we signed up for the rally this year it was late in the process and they didn't need any help, so we were going in again as just spectators. However, as we were getting ready to leave to head to Albuquerque we got a text from the guy who is heading up the rally asking us if we can come in early to help with parking. Some friends of ours, Pat and Jim Goetzinger were on the advance team and apparently Pat had gone to the hospital early this morning with chest pains. It didn't look too serious at this time, but it meant that Jim needed to be replaced on the parking team. We sped up our departure and started north about 7:45 and arrived at the Fiesta grounds right at 9:30. We got right in and got a parking spot right on the front row, primo parking! We got the basics set up, which didn't take too long since this rally is all dry camping, no utilities at all. I then went out and relieved Jim so he could go to the hospital and I helped get the remaining 70 coaches parked. Jackie did the set up inside the coach while I was working.

By about 2:30 we had all but a handful of stragglers parked and my work was done. We relaxed in the coach until 4:00 when we had our first social gathering with the group. Everyone gathered outside and the rally master gave a talk detailing what would be going on for the next four days, going over the various safety rules and regulations and just bringing everyone up to speed. Probably three quarters of the attendees are first timers. We then had some presentations by two of the balloon teams that are here for the Fiesta. They talked about ballooning and showed off their equipment. We then had a catered BBQ meal. Jim brought Pat back from the hospital and we had a chance to talk to her. It turned out to not be a heart problem and she was feeling better. She is still not sure what the pain was, but she was relieved that it wasn't a heart attack. After the social functions we went back to the coach and spent the rest of the night relaxing in the coach.

Thursday, October 19^th, we were up at 6:00 to see if the balloons were going to fly today. Most of the weather forecasts said that there was a winter cold front moving through the area today and that the winds were going to be too high for balloons to fly. Well, it turned out that they were correct, the winds were so high that the balloons didn't even inflate to stand up. About 11:00 or so we took walk down on the balloon field so we could go through the various vendors and get a little exercise. We also thought we might be able to get lunch, but since the balloons didn't go up this morning, and probably wouldn't even set up for the glow tonight, most of the food vendors were closed for the day. We did get to see some really great wood carving.  After a couple hours walking around on the field we went back to the coach, got in the car and drove to a nearby cafe for lunch. We ate at a place called Jimmy's on Jefferson and it was quite good. After we ate we did a little caching, getting three new finds. We then went back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. The group got together for another happy hour at about 4:30, and after cocktails they served another meal of heavy appetizers. One thing about this rally, you won't go hungry. We sat out for a while, but after the sun went down it started to get pretty chilly. As predicted the winds really picked up during the day and it started to get colder. The winds were so high that they canceled the sky divers for the evening as well as the “glowdeo” for the special shapes balloons. Most evening they have what they call a glow where the balloons inflate, but stay on the ground. That way people can see them light up after dark. Most hot air balloons are not certified to fly at night. However, the winds were too high for them to even set up on the ground. The only thing that did happen on schedule was the fireworks at 8:00. They have a great fireworks show here every night and tonight's was really good too. After the fireworks we watched a little TV and went to bed.

Friday, October 11^th, we again were up at 6:00 to see if the balloons would fly. There was a little bit of wind, but not real bad, so most of the regular, normal shape balloons, did inflate and fly. The winds were still a little high for the special shapes, which are usually bigger and are more difficult to fly because of the way the wind acts on the envelope. Some of the shapes inflated, but stayed on the ground. Nonetheless, we still had a lot of balloons in the sky. The only down side was the cold front had come in and it was COLD! It was 34 degrees on the field when we got up. I went outside a couple of times to take some pictures, but I didn't stay out long. Fortunately, where we are parked we can see most of the activity from the warm comfort of the inside of our coach. Yea! About 11:15 we left the rally area and drove to the El Pinto Mexican Restaurant for lunch with the group. The Monaco Balloon Rally has been going to El Pinto during each rally for most of the time they have been doing the rally. They set up a big, private room for us and put out a very nice, and very tasty, buffet lunch. During our previous

rallies they also did a lunch at a local country club, but the rally master told us that the prices had gone up too high, so they no longer did that activity. We had a great lunch and some margaritas and visited with people while we ate.

After lunch, about 1:30, we left the restaurant and drove to a nearby Costco. The last few evenings we noticed that the screen on the TV in the front of the coach was getting progressively darker and harder to see. I did a little research and concluded that the backlights in the TV were going out. These new LED TVs have strips of lights in the back that illuminate the screen. For the most part, these new flat screens are not economically repairable, so I made some calls and found that Costco had a replacement, exactly the same size, in stock, and it was on sale. So we went to Costco and for $159 had a new TV. We went back home and it took me just over an hour to swap out the TVs and now we have one that works. At 4:30 the group got together for happy hour again. They had food out, but most people were still full from lunch, so not too many people ate. We didn't. At 5:00 the sky diving team made their jump and we watched them come down. We then went back to the coach because it was still pretty chilly. The special shapes did go onto the field and inflate tonight for the glow, so we took some photos from the coach. We didn't feel like going onto the field in the cold. At 7:30 the sky diving team did another jump, in the dark, this time with fireworks packages which they shot off as they came down. Something I have never seen before and it was pretty neat. The fireworks show came again at 8:00 and it was another great show. After that we watched a little TV, shut the generator off at 10:00 and went to bed.

Saturday, October 12^th, it was still cold when we woke up at 6:00, but it was not quite as biting as yesterday since it was about 10 degrees warmer, in the low 40's instead of the 30's. There were no clouds and very little wind, so the balloons flew. By 8:00 the sky was filled with balloons of every shape, size and color as far as the eye could see. In addition, the “Albuquerque box” was working. The box is when the surface winds are blowing south, but the upper altitude winds are blowing north. This lets the balloons float to the south, then gain altitude and float back to the north. We saw some balloons make the trip three times. A number of balloons went out, came back and landed right back on the field, within yards of where they took off. The rally provided huge breakfast burritos this morning for the group. One of the traditions of the Fiesta is the breakfast burritos, normally egg, potato, bacon, andgreen chilies. The ones we had today were just eggs, bacon and chilies, the best kind. I can do without the potato. After all the flying was done we had the rest of the day off, so we just relaxed around the coach. At 4:30 we got together for happy hour and heavy appetizers again, watched the sky divers come down, and socialize. After we went back to the coach we watched another glow on the field and then the nightly fireworks show. Today was a perfect Balloon Fiesta day, everything worked!

Sunday, October 13^th, departure day. However, we were still up at 6:00 because even on the last day they have one last “mass ascension” and launch all the balloons that come out onto the field. The wind was perfect again and within an hour the sky was full of balloons. The rules of the park say that no vehicles are allowed to move or leave the area while the balloons are flying, so we all just watched the show again. The rally provided coffee and a light breakfast of fruit and muffins. After the balloons were all launched we went back to the coach, showered and started packing up. By 10:00 we were packed up, hooked up and headed for the road. It took a half hour in traffic to get to the freeway, but we were soon on our way, headed back west to Gallup, New Mexico, about 150 miles. We arrived at the USA RV park in Gallup about 1:00, got checked in, parked and set up. Now we have time to relax. We are here for two nights, then on into Arizona and another four stops before we arrive back home in Pahrump next Tuesday. We picked up some fried chicken for dinner and relaxed with the TV the remainder of the night. No balloons to look at tonight, but it was a full moon.

Monday, October 14^th, we went out after lunch to try and get a couple of geocaches, but the only two caches in town we haven't already found were inaccessible. One had road construction right next to it, the other was way out in the boonies on a trail that we didn't want to tackle. We then went to the mall and shopped for a while. Got some great bargains on clothes at Penny's and Beales. After the mall we did a Walmart run, then went back to the coach and relaxed. I made stuffed bell peppers for dinner, we watched some TV and went to bed. Tuesday was a travel day. We were packed up and on the road about 10:00, heading 120 miles west to Winslow, Arizona. We arrived at the Homolavi State Park about noon, got parked and set up for a one night stay. Since we were only here one night we didn't even unhook the car. We just chilled in the coach for the rest of the day and evening.

Wednesday, October 16^th, was another travel day. Since we were only going to Williams, Arizona, about 100 miles west, and the park we were going to had a strict 1:00pm check in time, we took our time leaving. We left Homolavi State park at about 10:45 and drove a couple of miles to the Flying J truck stop in Winslow to get fuel. After fueling the coach we parked and went inside to Denny's for breakfast. We were back out and on the road at noon and arrived in Williams at the Grand Canyon Railroad RV Park about 1:30. We got checked in, parked and set up, then relaxed for the rest of the day. We did go out briefly to scout a laundromat because our plan is to do our laundry tomorrow. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in the coach.

Thursday, October 17^th, we left the coach after lunch and went to do our laundry. After a couple hours we were finished, so we did a little geocaching in Williams, getting four new finds. After our caching we went back to the coach, put everything away, and stayed in for the rest of the day and evening. Friday was yet another travel day. We were packed up and on the road by about 10:00, continuing west 110 miles to Kingman, Arizona. We arrived at the Sunrise RV park in Kingman about 12:30, got checked in and parked, and had lunch. After lunch we went out and did some exploring and geocaching. We haven't stayed in Kingman very often so we haven't seen much of this city of nearly 30,000. Kingman was founded in the late 1800's as a railroad town and was the home for a major Army Air Corps training base during WWII. After the war the base served as one of the largest reclamation centers for surplus military aircraft.

Today the town's economy is mainly tourism as it is the largest city between Flagstaff and Barstow on Interstate 40 and also serves as a sort of gateway to the Las Vegas area, which is only about 90 miles northwest. It's most famous “favorite son” is actor Andy Devine, whose father opened one of the largest hotels in town in the 1940's. It's most infamous “celebrity” was Timothy McVie, the Oklahoma City Bomber, who lived in Kingman for a couple of years just prior to his bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The city was also the scene of the 1973 explosion of a rail car propane tank which killed 11 firefighters, a rail worker and an Arizona State Highway Patrolman, and injured dozens more. The car was parked on a siding near downtown when static electricity ignited gas escaping from a small hairline crack in the side of the tank. Firefighters responded and were fighting the fire by trying to cool the tank, however the expanding gas first caused a valve to fail, increasing the fire to the point where the propane boiled and finally caused the tank to explode. The explosion was felt and heard five miles away and created a brief, 1000 foot fireball which enveloped the entire rail-yard. This remained the worst Arizona public safety employee tragedy until 2013 when 13 firefighters were lost in a forest fire north of Phoenix.

We explored the historic downtown area and did some geocaching, getting six new finds and no DNFs. We then visited the Kingman Elks Lodge, which is number 468, chartered in 1899. Their old, classic three story stone Lodge building is still located downtown, however some years ago the built a new lodge building in the northern fringe of the town. There were quite a few people in the bar and they were very friendly, one of them giving me a tour of the building. They still have a dedicated lodge room in the new building with the furnishings and decorations from their old place downtown. It was a very pretty lodge room, which are becoming more scarce. Most lodges today have their meetings in multipurpose rooms. We had a cocktail, visited with some of the members and actually got a new lodge pin for our banner. After our lodge visit we went back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Saturday, October 19^th, we left the coach about noon and went to lunch at a nearby Jimmy Johns sandwich shop. We have been wanting to try one of these places for a while. The food was quite good, better than Subway in my opinion. After lunch we did some geocaching, getting eight new finds and one DNF in a couple of hours. After caching we did a Walmart run, then went back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the evening. Sunday was another travel day. We left Kingman about 10:30 and headed northwest towards Boulder City, Nevada, about 90 miles. The drive was a bit hairy as the wind was blowing pretty hard, but we arrived at the Boulder City Elks Lodge around 12:30. We had a reserved spot, so we quickly got parked. This is a nice lodge in a building built in the 30's as the terminal for the first commercial airport in the Las Vegas valley. They have 15 full hookup sites with 50 amp. We got the basics set up and went out to an IHOP in nearby Henderson for lunch, then went to Great Clips where we both got haircuts. After our errands we went back to the coach, finished setting up the inside, then relaxed for the rest of the day.

Monday, October 21^st, we left the coach about noon and drove to central Las Vegas to meet my brother Russ and his wife Zen for lunch. Russ lives here in Las Vegas and has since the 80's. He works at the Golden Nugget Casino downtown and has Sunday and Monday off, so we thought it would be nice to see them since we were here in town. We met at Applebee's and had a very nice lunch talked for a couple hours. After our visit we did some errands. We first stopped at the Sunrise Hospital to pick up the video disk and records from Jackie's angiogram earlier this year. We then went to the Costco in Henderson to pick up some stuff. There are no “big box” stores in Pahrump so we have to come down to Vegas to get anything from Costco or Sams Club. After our Costco run we went back to the coach and we stayed in for the rest of the evening.

Tuesday, October 22^nd, another travel day, but our last with the coach for a couple of months. We left the Boulder City Elks about 10:00 and headed on the last 77 mile leg across Las Vegas, over the hill and into our “home town” of Pahrump, Nevada. Yea! We left Pahrump almost exactly four months ago in June to start our summer travels. We arrived at the Wine Ridge RV Resort about noon, got checked in and parked. We spent the rest of the afternoon getting set up for our two month stay. We love to travel, but we love to just be in one place for a while too, especially Pahrump.

This officially closes out our summer travels for 2019 and is a great place to close this chapter and get it published. Until next time, ponder the words of baseball great Yogi Berra. “If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.” See ya soon.

 Just some of the great photos we took at the Fiesta.

From San Diego to Albuquerque

Hi there, welcome back. Our last episode concluded on Saturday, September 14^th, when we arrived in San Diego, California for a week long stay. Sunday we went out about 12:30 and drove to a shopping mall in nearby La Jolla for lunch and some shopping. We had lunch at a burger place called Shake Shack. I guess it is an up and coming California gourmet burger place that has gotten very popular. Jackie's brother Dennis, who lives here in San Diego, has been trying for a year to get us to go to one. I found the burger to be good, the meat was juicy and the toppings OK. The fries were very good. Both Jackie and I had burgers, but she had hers without the bun. The problem I have is that for two double burgers, one order of fries and one drink it was over $27. Considering our favorite place, In N Out, is at least a third less expensive and just as good, Shake Shack is just not worth the premium price. After lunch we walked around the mall and did a little shopping. Jackie picked up a top at Macy's, but other than that we just looked. We left the mall and did a couple of geocaches, then did a Walmart run. After Walmart we went back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Monday, September 16^th, we pretty much had a stay at home day. I did some office work and chores around the house, including replacing the 12 volt water pump on the coach. We had notice a week or so ago that the pump wasn't working. It is only used when we are not hooked up to a city water supply, which is rarely, so I have no idea how long it had been out. Ten minutes of trouble shooting led me to the belief that the pump had seized up. I had a replacement pump in the storage bay, so within a half hour the new pump was installed and we had water again. This was important since in about two weeks we will be in Albuquerque, New Mexico at the Balloon Fiesta and will be dry camping. We will need a working water pump. After lunch we did do a quick run to a nearby Target so Jackie could get a new hair dryer. Her old one crapped out this morning. Around 4:00 Jackie's brother Dennis came over for a visit. We sat and talked and caught up. Although he and Jackie talk and text frequently, we don't see him a lot. We last saw him in May of last year when we drove down to San Diego in the car to spend one night. I checked on the last time we were in San Diego with the coach and it was in April of 2013. Dennis stayed until about 6:30 then left. We had dinner and spent the rest of the night with the TV.

Tuesday, September 17^th, we spent most of the afternoon doing laundry. There is a nice laundry room right here at the RV park, so we didn't have to go out. Jackie's brother came over about 3:30 to visit and stay for dinner. We sat and talked for a while and then I did some fish on the BBQ and we had that along with rice and veggies for dinner. Dennis left about 7:30 and we spent the rest of the evening watching TV. Wednesday we left the coach about 11:30 and drove to the North Park neighborhood of San Diego, north of Balboa Park, for lunch. We went to a place called Pete's Seafood and Sandwiches, a place recommended to us by one of our Coachella Valley friends, Kevin Ray. His mother lives in San Diego and he comes down here a lot, so he told us to try this place. Jackie's brother met us here for lunch and was even nice enough to buy lunch for us. The food was good, Jackie had the lobster roll, I had a similar crab roll sandwich, along with the clam chowder. The sandwiches were smaller than I expected, but the seafood seemed fresh and was not cut with a bunch of lettuce or other filler. We also got a geocache which just happened to be right inside the patio of the restaurant. Didn't have to go far for that one. After lunch we did a little drive by sightseeing, driving through the Gaslamp district near downtown, and then the actual downtown area. We didn't spent too much time there as President Trump happened to be visiting San Diego today and was at a luncheon in a downtown hotel. As a result many of the streets were blocked off and there were demonstrators on the street. We did get to see the famous “Trump Baby” helium balloon that the protesters like to fly at any Trump event. We also took a drive through Old Town, but didn't stop because there was no parking. We then did a Costco run for a few things. We then went back to the coach and relaxed there for the rest of the day.

Thursday, September 19^th, we left the coach after lunch and went to the local Auto Club office so I could get a passport photo done. My passport expires this coming March and I need to get it sent in next month. After getting my photo taken care of we did some geocaching. We had a good afternoon, getting ten new finds and no DNFs in the course of a couple of hours. After caching we stopped at a nearby Vons for a few things, then headed back to the coach. We had bought a couple of sirloin steaks at Vons to have for dinner tonight and I did them on the grill. We had steak, scallops and asparagus for dinner. Unfortunately, the two fresh steaks were two of the worst pieces of meat we have ever had. Tough and stringy, almost inedible. So bad we are going to file a complaint email with Vons tomorrow. After dinner we watched TV until bedtime.

Friday, September 20^th, we had a stay at home day. I got some things done around the coach, including finally getting all of the old paper removed from the Plexiglas panels of our new screen door. The door had set out in the elements for a number of years and the paper kind of bonded to the plastic. We now have a nice looking new door. Yea! About 3:30 Dennis came over to visit and have dinner. We sat and talked for a couple hours then Jackie served a nice meatloaf dinner. He left around 6:30 and I went outside and took down the screens and did a couple of other things in preparation for our departure tomorrow. We then spent the rest of the night with the TV.

Saturday, September 21^st, another travel day. We left the RV park about 10:30 and started east on Interstate 8 towards El Centro, California, about 122 miles. As of today we are working our way east to Albuquerque for our fourth time at the Balloon Fiesta. We will have a week and a half of two and three day stops. We arrived at the Rio Bend RV Resort about 12:30, found our site and got parked and set up for our three day stop. We have never been to this resort, which is quite nice, and actually never stayed in El Centro before. We have been here a lot, especially back when we lived in Indio. The Blue Angels aerial demonstration team winters at the Naval Air Facility in El Centro and always does there first show of the year in April at El Centro. When we lived in the house the came down every year for the airshow. The base is just a few miles due north of the RV park. After we got set up and ate a light lunch we went out to explore El Centro a bit. We drove around, got some geocaches, and just looked around for a couple hours. It was pretty hot so we only got four cache finds and one DNF. After exploring we went back to the coach and relaxed. We had a nice pot roast for dinner which had been cooking all day in the crock pot. After dinner we watched TV and went to bed.

Sunday, September 21^st, we left the RV park about 11:00 and went out to do some geocaching before it got too hot. It was supposed to reach a hundred today. We cached in and around El Centro and were able to get seven new finds, including some very clever caches. We technically had two DNFs, but because the cache owner was watching his geocaching.com page, he saw them and immediately contacted us with some hints. We were then able to go back and find the caches. We stopped for lunch around 1:00 at a little Mexican restaurant on the east side of El Centro, near the Barrio area. It had very good ratings on Yelp. The place, called Antojitos Como En Casa, had a fairly limited menu, but the service and the food were excellent. I had tacos and enchiladas and Jackie had chorizo con huevos. After lunch we went out and did a couple more caches, then stopped at a couple stores, including Walmart, for some supplies. We then headed back to the coach and stayed in for the rest of the day.

Monday, September 23^rd was a stay at home day. We got a few chores done around the coach, but mostly just relaxed and stayed cool during the hot day. Tuesday was another travel day. We were on the road about 10:00 headed about 80 miles east to Yuma. We arrived at the Adobe Village RV Resort about 11:30 and got checked in. This is the park where our good friend Ray Babcock was able to get our reservations set up for the Spring of 2020. The park where the four of us, Babcock's, McKay's, Bullock's and us, have all stayed during most of January and March for the last three years no longer gave us any preference over their six month Snowbirds. We all like to be together, but we only stay two or three months at the most and it is getting harder and harder to find RV parks in Yuma that have spots for these “short” stays. He had worked very hard this last February talking to various parks in the Foothills and a week ago this park called him and told him that they had exactly four spots available for January, March and April. We made the reservations for the Spring and then I also made reservations for our three day layover now. The couple that run the place were very nice and they parked us in the spot we will have in January so we “wouldn't get lost” when we come back. Of course, the park is nearly empty right now in the heat of early Fall. After we got set up we drove around the Foothills area a little bit just to check out any summer changes. After an hours driving and getting one geocache, we went back to the coach and spent the remainder of the day relaxing.

Wednesday, September 25^th, we left the coach about noon and drove to Tacos El Cositas, the little taco stand in the Foothills area that we visit at least once a week when we stay here in Yuma. We had a great lunch and it was weird to see the place nearly empty. Normally during the season it is extremely busy. Of course, the traffic in the Foothills was almost non-existent too during the off season. After lunch we drove to get one geocache, one of the few we haven't already gotten here in the Foothills. This is the monsoon season in Arizona and for the last couple days there have been on and off storms. After we got the geocache we noticed that the sky was starting to look threatening, so we went back to the coach and “hunkered down” for a possible storm. There were some good thunderstorms in the area but watching the radar they went north and south of us with no rain at all for our area. It did get a little windy, but nothing serious. We spent the rest of the day relaxing in the coach.

Thursday, September 26^th, we went out after lunch to the local nail salon. Jackie got a pedi, I got my toenails clipped. After the nails we went back to the coach because the weather was still a bit threatening. As it turned out, we still didn't get any rain, but we did get a few things done around the coach. Friday was another travel day on our mission to get to Albuquerque and the balloons. We left Yuma about 10:00, did a fuel stop and then headed east on I-8 towards Arizona City, about 175 miles. It was freeway almost all the way and it was an uneventful trip through the desert. We arrived at the High Chaparral RV park about 1:00, got parked and set up for our three day stay here. We didn't go anywhere after we got set up, just relaxed and did a few little chores. Arizona City is just southwest of Casa Grande and Phoenix is only about 50 miles north. I contacted my brother Ken to see if they wanted to come down on Saturday or Sunday to visit since it is only about an hour's drive. They will be down tomorrow. Yea!

Saturday, September 28^th, we left the coach about 11:30 and drove into Old Town Casa Grande to the Big House Cafe to meet Ken and Susan for lunch. There were waiting when we arrived. We got seated and had a great lunch. Although we stay in touch often by email and social media, we haven't seen Ken and Susan since we were here in Casa Grande in March of this year. After lunch we drove back to the Coach and they came in and we sat and talked until about 6:00 when they left to drive back to Goodyear. We had a light dinner and spent the rest of the night with the TV. It was good to see Ken and Susan again. We spent quite a bit of time talking about RVing as they are looking at a future as full time Rvers when they retire in about four years. We are sort of mentoring them. Sunday we went out about 11:00 and went to lunch at a Chipotle restaurant in Casa Grande. Jackie has been wanting to try them for some time. The food was pretty good for Mexican fast food. After lunch we went to a Great Clips and Jackie got a haircut, then we stopped at Walmart for some supplies. After Walmart we went back to the RV park and took some stuff down to the laundry at the park. We didn't do our clothes, but we did some of the stuff that only gets washed periodically. This way when we do our clothes in a few days we don't have to fuss with the other stuff. We did the various cloth chair covers, a couple throw rugs, the comforter from the bed and a blanket. We spent the rest of the day either in the coach or running back and forth to the laundry room, which was just a hundred yards down the road.

Monday, September 30^th, another travel day. We were on the road about 10:00, continuing East to Willcox, Arizona, about 140 miles. Other than having to drive through Tucson where the traffic was pretty heavy, it was an easy trip. We arrived at the Grande Vista RV park about 12:30 and quickly got checked in and parked. We got set up for our two night stay here and then just stayed in for the rest of the day and evening. We were last here in March of this year, but didn't get to see too much since we were both sick most of the time we were here. We'll go out tomorrow to see the town a little. Tuesday we went out after lunch to do some geocaching. There were only seven caches in town and in a couple hours we got all seven. We drove around a little, exploring Willcox and stopped at a couple of antique stores. A little after 4:00 we went to the Elks Lodge. We have never been to this lodge and unfortunately they didn't have any lodge pins for our banner. There were several members in the bar and they were very friendly. The Esquire took me on a tour of the building and they have a very nice, large facility with a dedicated Lodge Room. They have a little over 500 members and the Esquire said the lodge is struggling to stay in business. We did find that they have a very nice RV park with 28 hookup spots with water and electric. Next time we come through the area we will stay there. We had one drink, then went back to the coach and stayed in the rest of the night.

Wednesday, October 2^nd, another travel day. We left Willcox about 10:00 and headed east to Deming, New Mexico, about 140 miles again. We “lost” an hour when we crossed into New Mexico but still arrived at the Low Hi RV Ranch about 1:30 local time. We got our spot and parked, then did our set up for our three day stay here. After we got set up we went out for a late lunch/early dinner to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, Irma's. We have been to Irma's every time we stop in Deming. Lunch was wonderful. After lunch we checked out a laundromat because we want to do our laundry tomorrow. We also located the fairgrounds because the Southwest New Mexico State Fair starts today and runs through the weekend. We may go on Friday if the weather doesn't get bad. After our touring we went back to the RV park and spent the remainder of the day in the coach.

Thursday, October 3^rd, although the weather forecast called for rain today, it was a pretty nice day. Some overcast, but pleasant. We left the park after lunch and went into town to do our laundry. After laundry we did a little shopping, going to a great Mexican food company here in town called Amigos, to buy some of their frozen chili rellenos. We got some the last time we were here and they were great. They keep well in the freezer and are delicious. We also did a Walmart run before heading back to the coach. After we got back we put everything away and spent the evening with the TV. Friday we left the coach after lunch and drove to the fairgrounds here in Deming for the Southwest New Mexico State Fair, which we had

noticed on our arrival was running through this weekend. We enjoy fairs and try to go to them when we come across them. The fairgrounds were pretty small, so we didn't expect much and our expectations were met. We like looking at the various animals that are being shown, almost always by kids, FAA or 4H, but the selection here was pretty sparse. One building had all the animals and there were only a dozen or two of each, sheep, goats, pigs, cattle, rabbits and birds. We spent the biggest part of our time watching the judging where the kids would bring in the animal to be judged. We learned that they were judging the kids on their showmanship even more so than the animals themselves. We watched a “multi showing” event where the same six kids brought in a steer, then a sheep, then a goat and finally a pig. Some of the kids had great control, others not so much. One of the girls looked to be about 12, skinny and she was having problems. It was kind of fun to watch. It only took about ten minutes to go through the one building they had with displays, the arts and crafts, plants, and vendors all together. For being billed a “State Fair” it was very small. Every county fair we have been to was bigger than this “state fair” in New Mexico. After the fair we went back to the RV park and spent the rest of the day and evening in the coach.

Saturday, October 5^th, another travel day. We left Deming about 10:00 and headed East and the North to Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, about 145 miles. We arrived at the RJ RV park about 12:30 and got checked in. This is a nice little park and with Passport America is only $14 a night with full, 50 amp, hookups. Yea! We will be here for three nights. As we were coming into town we passed the fairgrounds and noticed that the Sierra County Fair was going on. We checked and found that today was the last full day, so we got parked and the basics hooked up, had a quick lunch, and then drove to the fair. Two fairs in two days! Although this was a county fair, it was still bigger than the one in Deming that was billed as a regional State Fair. There were lots of animals to look at in several buildings, and one large building with displays as well as a variety of vendors. We spent about two hours at the fair, then went out and drove through town just to get the lay of the land.

We have only been to T or C, as it's known locally, once, after the balloon fiesta in 2010. That was just for one night and we didn't do any exploring or caching. T or C is a city of about 6,000 located in the high desert of central New Mexico. It is about 100 miles north of Las Cruces, the second largest city in New Mexico, and 160 miles south of Albuquerque, the largest city in the state. The town is situated on a series of hills and arroyos along a three mile main street that runs between two exits on Interstate 25. It was founded in 1916 as Hot Springs, but in 1950 the city administration changed the name to Truth or Consequences in response to a contest by the very popular radio quiz show of the same name. The creator and host of the program, Ralph Edwards, advertised that the show would broadcast it's 10^th anniversary program from the first city that officially changed it's name. Thus, T or C New Mexico was born. Edwards visited the town every May for 50 years, until his death, during the celebration of the name change which was called “Fiesta” by the city. The tradition of Fiesta continues to this day, celebrated the first week of May every year. There is even a Ralph Edwards park in town. After our little tour we went back to the coach and stayed in for the rest of the evening.

Sunday, October 6^th, I was able to get an Albuquerque paper at the local market, so we had a normal Sunday with the paper and our coffee. After lunch we went out

to do some geocaching in the area. This is one of those rare places where we have never cached. In a couple of hours we were able to get eight new finds with no DNFs. After caching we went back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the day. Monday we went out after lunch and did some more exploring and also getting one more geocache. We drove to the east of T or C to Elephant Butte Lake, a man made lake created by the construction of the Elephant Butte Dam in 1912. The dam and lake brought water to this part of the high desert and allowed agriculture to bloom in the area. There is also another town nearby called Elephant Butte, which has about 3,000 population and appears to be a fairly new and affluent town. Lots of very nice houses. After our exploration we did a Walmart run for some last minute supplies before our arrival at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta on Wednesday. After Walmart we went back to the coach and spent the rest of the night in the coach.

Tuesday, October 8^th, our last full day before Albuquerque. It was also a travel day and we were on the road about 10:30, heading north to an RV park out in the middle of no where about 12 miles north of Socorro, New Mexico. The trip was only about 95 miles, so we got there about 12:30 after a fuel and lunch stop in Socorro. This was a very rustic park, but it is only 70 miles south of the Balloon Fiesta park in the north part of Albuquerque where we will be parked for the Fiesta. It is also about as close as you can get to Albuquerque this time of year without the price going sky high. All the parks in and around Albuquerque triple their rates the first two weeks of October and most require a minimum three day stay. Since we are leaving early in the morning so as to arrive at the park at the appointed time of 10:30, we didn't unhook the car and didn't go anywhere after we got set up.

Since tomorrow starts our rally at the Balloon Fiesta, this would be a good time to close this chapter and get it published. Until next time, remember that life is not a fairy tale. If you lose your shoe at midnight, you're probably drunk. See ya soon.